Bradt releases new Luxembourg travel guide book

The well-kept tourist secret that is Luxembourg is about to go global after a second, information-packed travel guide to the country hits bookstores.

03.05.2012

The well-kept tourist secret that is Luxembourg is about to go global after a second, information-packed travel guide to the country hits bookstores.

The second edition of the Bradt Luxembourg guidebook by travel writer Tim Skelton was published last month and includes more information and ideas for people looking to explore the Grand Duchy.

“I think that Luxembourg is an undiscovered country in Western Europe,” said Tim, who wrote the first Bradt guide to Luxembourg after winning a competition at a travel seminar in London.“I said in the introduction to the first edition that I did not know if there was going to be enough to fill a book. It was a very pleasant surprise that there was, and more.”

Since the first edition Tim, a British national living in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, has returned to Luxembourg several times a year for update visits in the hope that Bradt would commission a second version.

After getting the green light for an updated guide, Tim returned to Luxembourg for an intensive four-week research visit in June last year. “The second edition is 20 percent bigger than the first. I visited everywhere that was in the first edition. Some places had closed down, but as I was travelling around I happened across plenty of new ones that looked interesting. My friends at the Luxembourg Tourism Office were a lot of help.”

Despite being “probably the most knowledgeable English person about Luxembourg who doesn't live there,” Tim says that he was not always enamoured by the country.

“When I first came to Luxembourg in the mid-1980s it wasn't love at first sight. It's only when you start digging below the surface and discovering gems like Vianden you start to realise there's more to this place,” he said.

His interest in the country is clear in the book, which provides comprehensive reviews of hotels and restaurants as well as potted histories on anything from local celebrities to the country's seven and a half breweries. The general information section also offers tips which may be useful to anyone looking to settle in Luxembourg, such as buying property and keeping abreast with local news.

The writer hopes that this latest edition will encourage visitors and residents alike to explore Luxembourg beyond the capital. He said: “When the first edition came out people were talking about Luxembourg City but they had never thought about where it was. People don't realise there's a lot of countryside out there. I think that as a tourist destination Luxembourg City doesn't have much to worry about. But almost no one in Britain seems to know about the Luxembourg Ardennes, for example. It's an untapped resource as far as the British market is concerned.”

The Bradt guide to Luxembourg second edition is available from the Luxembourg City Tourist Office in Place Guillaume II as well as Amazon.co.uk or www.bradtguides.com